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Armed Forces: Future Defence Policy

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Hodgson, asked a specific question relating to pilots. I can confirm that the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy are recruiting and training sufficient personnel to maintain the level of helicopter pilots for the Chinook fleet as required by the helicopter pilots’ school. The noble Lord, Lord Lee, asked a specific question relating to the Cutlass project. This is a robotic project for defusing large improvised explosive devices. The project has completed initial trialling and further acceptance trials will take place over the next six to nine months. The right reverend Prelate and a number of other noble Lords raised the question of the future deterrent from the point of view both of disarmament and of maintaining our military capability. We are committed to maintaining the future deterrent and to multilateral disarmament in terms of a reduction in the number of warheads. In 2005—I remember; I was the Minister responsible for defence equipment at the time—we looked in detail at either extending the life of the Vanguard boats or considering the use of Astute class submarines and cruise missiles. Neither of those options is technically feasible. It is not a matter of cost but of technology. The noble Baroness, Lady Seccombe, asked about cadets. We recognise the true importance of cadets as a force for good in society and are working with the devolved Administrations to increase the opportunities for state school pupils to participate in our cadet programme. We see this as a very important activity, and it is one in which we are continuing to invest. The noble Lord, Lord Hodgson, asked about paratroop training. He is right to identify this issue. C130 aircraft are currently heavily committed to operations, which has resulted in an impact on paratroop training. We are investigating alternative means of providing the training required but we accept the concern that he raised. The noble Earl, Lord Attlee, asked about the timing of the introduction to service of the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft. The plans remain in place for those aircraft to come into service in 2016. The noble Lord, Lord Lee, asked me to name one company which was working flat out. Universal Engineering in Weymouth, which builds the chassis for the Jackal vehicle, is working 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is an example of the commitment that we are seeing from large parts of our defence industry in support of our defence procurement programme. I can confirm to the noble Lord, Lord Astor, that we foresee no change to the timing of the in-service date for both carriers. I shall write to him about the refit of HMS "Illustrious". In conclusion, our Armed Forces are respected around the world, and deservedly so. However, if we want to remain in the premier league of defence, which we do, we owe it to our brave men and women in service to have a serious, hard-nosed debate about defence in the coming months, both in this House and across the country. I think we have all recognised in this excellent debate that there are some tough decisions ahead: tough decisions on Britain’s role in the world and on the capacity that our Armed Forces will need in terms of men and material to defend our national interests at home and abroad. There will also be tough decisions on how we resource and procure equipment. We therefore need a national consensus on defence policy. I sincerely hope that the Green Paper will stimulate a public debate about Britain’s role in the world and about the shape of the forces required to fulfil our commitments. I am delighted that the noble Lord, Lord Astor of Hever, welcomed the Green Paper. We have an opportunity to develop this consensus over the next six months, and we owe it to our Armed Forces to realise that opportunity.